Comparing my 5K layered PSD to the flat PNG export opened my eyes

Was prepping a dragon character for a client in Detroit and had the full project file with 40 layers, effects, and adjustments. My usual habit was exporting a flat PNG and calling it done, but I forced myself to make a layered TIFF for their future edits. When the client came back asking for a color swap on the wings, it took me 10 minutes instead of redoing the whole piece from scratch. Do you folks bother delivering working layered files, or is flattened the norm for small commissions?

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jade2211mo ago

So when the client asked for that wing color swap, were you able to just toggle a layer or did you end up hunting through the effects and adjustment layers to figure out which one actually controlled the wing color? Love that it only took 10 minutes but I'm curious how much of that time was digging versus actually changing the color. Do you name and group your layers as you go, or is it more of a "I'll remember what layer 27 does" kind of thing? Because the layered file only saves you if future you can actually find stuff in it.

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